Prambanan and the adventure that followed

S o there I was at Prambanan temples, having bravely taken the local bus oncce again to save the big bucks and let me do things at my own speed. With all the warnings of pickpockets it is a bit worrisome but generally no buses have been crowded to warrant fear. I was cominf down from my first explore around the main temple, looking at the statues in four different rooms and giving a few rubs on them for good luck, then IT began.

I noticed at Borobodur the other day people love having me in their pictures. Maybe they would love any tall white person, but I'm the only one around so they love ME. Some people asked to take my picture and some other people just kind of joined in without asking (I'm going to set up a bopoth and charge I think). Then Ias I hit the ground I was swarmed. An entire English class that visits the templese regularly to find foreginers and p[ractice with. ABout 30 were around me and they started asking all sorts of questions...thoughts on pollution, living in Canada, my name (Cyril of course!), and tonnes of others, too many to get down here. Some realy random ones (Has anything exciting or strange happened on your trip? "Yes" "what is the most excitiong or strange thing that has happened in Indonesia?" "I've been here three days" "what are your thoughts on tsunamis?" "Ahhhhhh, they're bad?" ANd so on. Eventually I had to politely say I'm here to see the temples so excuse me, and after getting a picture with the whole crew off I went. 2 guys from the group Andri and Endro asked if they could come around with me and I said sure.

Before I forget the temples were nice, and they really put a lot of effort into making a nice park in the surrounding area, still not wirth $10 though.

We walked and talked and eventually Andri tired and begged off when I was heading to Boko Palace. Endro tagged along and when I got there Iand found another $10 admission I said HA! and left. At some point Endro asked if I'd like to come back to his village to meet the parents and broither and so on.

After some thought I said yes.

Apparently they get some bonus marks if they can get a foreigner to come to their class, but I was moving on so unable to do this. I think Endro was very excited to get a foreigner to his village as kind of an ego thing. He kept saying things like "you're probably the first foreigner to see this" and I feel he took pleasure in "showing me off to the neighbours. I chatted with dad (a bit) and did my best to assure his mother her house was clean and not in need of more sweeping. They gave me rambutri (type of fruit) from the tree in the front yeard and were generally wonderful.
His dad kept saying "your mother, she is okay?" and "your father, he is okay?" I assured him they both were (Hopefully I was right???). He told me my aura showed him I was smart (Endro was embarassed at that) and wanted me to stay the night. Alas....I used my connections to get a proper cotton sarong at a local price but then had to return to Yogya.

AS a person back at the losmen said, it sounds like you just had a day you'll remember when you're 90. It was one of those days where so much happened it was hard to get it all down at the time, and needless to say I'm not doing it justice here.